Good-bye
by Brianna Aisling
Summary: Akane tells Ranma good-bye.


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Good-Bye  
  
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Ranma sat in his room, reading a manga propped up against his pillow. An itch in his nose caused him to idly scratch it with a knuckle. He could hear Kasumi's humming in the kitchen, the protests of his or Akane's father as one or the other lost a game of shogi, and, above it all, his favorite noise: Akane's Hyaas. He would never admit that her voice was what let him feel at ease. At least not out loud.  
  
He flipped a page and leaned forward. The hero was facing off against his archenemy. Ranma was eager to see how he won this time.  
  
"Ranma."  
  
He jumped slightly. He hadn't heard her come up the stairs. He rolled over onto his side and peered down his body at her. Akane stood in the doorway. She was dressed in her yellow gi, sweat stains apparent under her arms, around her waist where the belt held it fast against her skin, and across her chest. Her hair was damp at the roots and sticking to her skin. He thought she looked good.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
A small smile curved her lips. "Never mind." She turned and headed to the bathroom. Ranma stared at the door for a moment longer before rolling back onto his stomach to read again. Moments later, he heard his name again. He sat up, sitting cross-legged, and gazed at her. She had changed. Now, she wore a soft white dress he hadn't known she owned. The bodice hugged her figure softly while the sleeves and the skirt drifted around her arms and legs like fog. It almost seemed to glow.  
  
"That's a nice dress," he said without thinking. A light blush tinged her cheeks and nose. His blush was much more vibrant.  
  
"Thank you. I wanted say good-bye."  
  
Ranma looked up at her, confused. "Good-bye? Are you going somewhere?"  
  
"I...am going to see my mother."  
  
Ranma continued to gaze up at her. He almost asked to go with her, but something in her eyes told him he couldn't.  
  
"I hope you have a good time."  
  
She smiled at him softly. "Thank you, Ranma." Her voice was soft and tender. They stared at each other for a moment before Akane turned and was gone.  
  
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"Akane, lunch is ready. ...Akane?" Kasumi wiped her hands on her apron and headed for the dojo. She wondered why Akane hadn't answered her call. She had stopped practicing a while ago. Kasumi pushed open the doors and froze. Her hands started to shake. At some point, she screamed. Before her, on the dojo floor, still in her gi, Akane lay in a pool of her own blood, her gut split by the family tonto. Someone grabbed her from behind and spun her around, pulling her eyes from the grisly scene. Kasumi found herself staring into Nabiki's eyes. She collapsed into her sister's arms. Their tears mixed.  
  
Ranma knelt by Akane and reached out to touch her. He jerked his hand back when he connected with cold flesh. He bit his lip, unable to steady his hand, and reached out to roll her onto her back. Her eyes were closed, her face twisted with confusion. He spun away from her to vomit on the dojo floor.  
  
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The note she left was disjointed and unfinished. It was only words and phrases really, half of it scratched out. Ranma could make no sense of it, but he kept the letter anyway. There was one thing he could understand; four words written in the bottom right hand corner:  
  
I love you, Ranma.  
  
He kept seeing her as he had when she had said good-bye, her hair soft and floating around her face. It had taken some convincing by her family and a frenzied search through her closet to finally believe that she did not own a white dress like the one she had been wearing. No one knew what to make of Ranma's story. The only person who believed him was Nabiki. She had also seen Akane before they discovered the body.  
  
She had been sitting at her desk, hunched over her ledger, calculating her monthly costs, when two slender arms wrapped around her neck in a warm hug. Nabiki had looked up to find Akane smiling at her.  
  
"I love you, Biki-chan."  
  
She had been oddly moved by the affectionate name and had to blink away tears when Akane kissed her softly on the cheek and left. Nabiki had not been able to ask what had brought on her sudden show of affection.  
  
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Dr. Tofu found drugs in her system. He could never place their origin or even guess at who might have given them to her. He contacted an old colleague and learned that they were delusion-causing drugs. Akane's mind had been thrown into chaos, and she had been unable to make sense of what was happening to her. As suited her prideful nature, she had tried to deal with it on her own, acting as she normally had and privately dealing with the affects. Two weeks had driven her to honest insanity, and she had given in to the whispers produced by the drug and her own self-doubts.  
  
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Shampoo and Kadachi took the blame. Ranma nearly killed them both. His hands had still been stained with Akane's blood when he attacked.  
  
Ranma retreated into himself.  
  
Shampoo left Japan.  
  
Kadachi lost the last piece of sanity she had had and was committed.  
  
Ukyo tried to help out, but it was too much for her. She left, unable to draw Ranma from his depression.  
  
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End of Good-Bye  
  
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http://www.geocities.com/frankie_anne 


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